Life of the Pack
by Brawl499
Summary: The Darkness is rising, and its direct servants, the Vex and Hive, will soon move into a revived campaign against the Darkness' enemy, the Traveler. Many Guardians stand to meet these forces at the gates, but one, Fireteam Komodo, will unknowingly bring to light a very potent question: Are some Cabal and Fallen in situations so different from ours?
1. Gentle Starts

300 Years Post-Collapse, Housing District B, Slums Quarter

Undisturbed by the hustle and bustle of the nearby markets, the apartment belonging to one of many Guardians of The City instead lie dormant. Metal slat windows were popped open, letting in a soft glow of golden light, occasionally disrupted by a passing shuttle or Guardian ship. The living room was fairly cluttered, a table littered with piles of bounties set by other residents of The City sitting prominently in the center. Whether it be a request for a certain piece of ancient knowledge or tech, or the head of a particularly dangerous alien on a long-forgotten colony world, people would pay for anything.

More importantly, the next room over contained the apartment's resident, a Hunter named Merikh, who was sleeping peacefully. Not even slightly bothered by the sounds outside, Merikh was eventually roused from his sleep by his Ghost.

"I believe you need to get up, the others are waiting for you outside of a shop in the Markets." Merikh's Ghost informed, its faintly glowing white form drifting closer to the bed.

"Good morning to you too, Ghost. What do they need me for anyway?" Merikh asked, moving to rub his eyes. This motion was abruptly stopped by the feeling of metal as Merikh realized that he had fallen asleep in full gear.

"Well, they said they have an expedition to the Moon soon, and you have to come with. Also, Caldwell said that Barrett's in an antique shop with Carwyn. He stressed the importance of your immediate presence _very_ heavily." Merikh's Ghost informed, trying to avoid a twinge of amusement from creeping into its voice.

"Knowing those two, I'll be lucky if half the market doesn't want to kill them by the time I get there." Merikh laughed, grabbing his Trax Mallus II Scout Rifle from its propped up position against the wall as he left the room. Slinging the rifle onto his back, Merikh's Ghost flew to catch up, dematerializing as Merikh left the apartment. Stepping out into the messy streets, Merikh took one good look up at the Traveler, his people's last sign of hope, before setting off down the street.

Moving at a quick pace, Merikh almost glided down the streets, using his merely average stature and slim build to weave through, cut around, and nimbly dodge the crowds, the best evidence of his presence being the brief sighting of his faded orange cape and hood. Dancing around the flocks of people, Merikh eventually came to a small, rickety shop. Positioned outside were two of his fellow Guardians, and close friends at that.

The Awoken Alvara, a fellow Hunter, was sitting down with her back against the wall. Her unseen eyes were caught in an aging and withered book, her white and camo-green outfit surprisingly blending into the shadowy wall of the shop. Standing upright next to her was the Warlock Caldwell, whose patient posture and grey, washed-out, floor-reaching trench coat and armor added to his cold presentation.

"Glad you made it. Thankfully Barrett and Carwyn haven't been run out of the shop, but we should still get them out of there before I speak too soon." Caldwell warned, the Banshee-44-like metallic distortion in his voice, which was caused by being an Exo with a slightly damaged vocal unit, only adding to his menace.

"Honestly, I think this is a new record for them." Merikh prodded, pushing his way into the shop with Caldwell behind him. The shop was dark, with walls of antique firearms, books, and various pieces of technology scavenged from the Golden Age placed on a myriad of shelves and racks. Standing behind the counter was a fairly young looking civilian woman, and two massive Titans a small distance away inspecting some antique firearms.

The one on the left, who was slightly more elegant looking in smooth and rounded steel and yellow colored armor, with a collar of fur wrapping over his neck and left shoulder, was the Awoken Carwyn. Slung over his back was a Pulsar MSE Pulse Rifle, with the text _Three for Three_ etched into the right side of the carrying handle, starting above the ammo counter. On the right was the human Barrett, whose poor posture, dark green and brown colored angular metal armor, and blunt tone of voice telling volumes about the kind of person that he was: loud, somewhat slow, and resembling the Patriots that Golden Age texts almost always spoke about in a derogatory manner.

"_Quite interesting_…Lever-Action designs were completely phased out before the Golden Age even met its end, how one survived this long _and _in seemingly working order is a question maybe even the Cryptarch can't answer." Carwyn spoke, largely to himself, in amazement as he aimed down the sights of an antique Lever-Action rifle, the fact that it seemed to still operate properly based on him pulling the trigger and operating the lever serving as a testament to its durability.

"Hey Ghost, what era would you pin this gun being from?" Barrett asked as his Ghost materialized beside his head, examining an ancient rifle Barrett was holding.

"The shell appears to be based on a design from the 21st or 22nd Century, but its internal mechanisms are more reminiscent of technology just after the start of the Collapse. Quite peculiar…." Barrett's Ghost pondered, logging its findings for further study later. One thing it _did _take note of, however, is that the gun's frame bore resemblance to what the City's archives labeled as being called the G36.

"Alright you two gun connoisseurs, time to go. I'm interested to see what's so special on the Moon that we want to contend with the Hive again." Merikh butted in, getting the attention of both Titans. Reluctantly agreeing, both Titans went over to the counter.

"Hey, can you put these aside for us? We'll be back later for 'em." Barrett asked, him and Carwyn passing their respective antiques over to the clerk.

"Sure, don't get gutted by the Thralls." The woman said in a deadpan tone, evidently having overheard Merikh's statement about the Moon. Shrinking back slightly in offense at the woman's blatant lack of faith in a Guardian, and two Titans at that, Carwyn and Barrett opted to silently leave the shop.

"So, what _are _we going to the Moon for?" Merikh inquired, still curious and quite pressed to know given his _highly unpleasant _experiences with simulated Thralls in the practice rooms at the Tower.

"A Guardian in Old Russia found a Hive Breeding Ground locked away by the Fallen in an underground chamber near the Cosmodrome, even killed a Wizard. If a Wizard's on Earth, it's not just some strays, it's a plotted and coordinated desire to come back to Earth." Caldwell explained, summoning his Ghost to create a projection against the wall of the shop.

"So we're going to just aimlessly wage war on the Hive? I understand the want to strike first, but attacking the Hive _at all _is going to be kicking a hornet's nest. Attacking without any aim or direction is going to be like kicking a hornet's nest with a _landmine tucked inside_." Merikh humorously likened, not feeling comfortable about fighting the Hive without any direction.

"Lucky for you, we _do_ have a direction: That same Guardian opened the doors to a place called the Temple of Crota just a few days ago, and another Fireteam blew open the doors to a place called the Temple of Eir. We're going for the third one, called the Temple of Xol. They're all connected to the Hellmouth, so if we attack from all these different angles, we can thin out the Hive's defenses by forcing them to defend three or more fronts at once." Caldwell explained as his Ghost projected the entryway to the Temple of Xol against the wall, followed by a far-out view of the Hellmouth, a blinking red orb signifying the Temple of Xol's location relative to it.

"Also, something he's conveniently forgetting to tell you: We got assigned this one because of our larger Fireteam, since the Temple of Xol's the most reinforced, most populated, and most heavily defended of the three that Guardians have found so far." Alvara spoke up, having been with Caldwell when The Speaker gave them this mission. Caldwell only glanced at her with an annoyed '_You __**had **__to tell them that?' _expression. Caldwell's Ghost closing down the projection, the group set off towards The Tower.

"So….we got the tough job by default?" Barrett asked as the group made their way to the nearest Tower-bound shuttle, not really bothered by it.

"More or less. I doubt the Speaker wants to get rid of us for being unconventional, he probably just prefers to use us as overcompensation to avoid losing more Guardians with a normally-sized team." Caldwell guessed, not really quite sure himself.

"Oh, don't mean to dampen anyone's spirits, but after looking over some recon reports that the Hunters who found the Temple of Xol submitted, there's supposedly an unidentified Knight sub-type stationed there. Just wanted to warn everyone in advance." Caldwell's Ghost spoke up, going back into silence right after as it continued to make sense of the semi-blurry images said Hunters sent back. He also explicitly decided to avoid telling the group that one of said photos was the unidentified Knight nearly taking the head off of a Hunter with a strange, Naginata-like weapon.

In addition to that, there was also a strange, hooded figure with a yellow bullpup-configuration rifle standing on the rock ledge in the background, which Caldwell's Ghost had not noticed when the images first came in.

_Later, somewhere in Old Russia, 2:15 AM…_

Skittering and climbing on and around the wrecked husks of ages-old Main Battle Tanks, a pack of Dregs from the House of Kings descended upon the old weapons of war under directions to scavenge what they could from the firing mechanisms, targeting systems, and if possible, spare ammo. While the large rounds weren't as potent as the actual, Fallen-made rounds loaded into a Devil Walker's main cannon, it was a sufficient substitute. Watched over by a trio of Vandals and a single Captain, the Dregs fervently set about their reclamation efforts, actually kicking, clawing, and hissing at one another in hopes of being the exemplary one that gains the Captain's favor.

Thoroughly enraptured in their task, the Dregs hardly noticed as even _more _Dregs, these dressed in red armor instead of the Kings' gold, also set upon the tank. Not interested in the tank's supplies, the Dregs instead dug into the King Dregs standing on and around it, setting off a violent brawl as both sides were armed only with their Shock Knives.

Alarmed by the sudden scrap, the Captain prepared to move in closer, his Shrapnel Launcher being more than adequate to take out a few measly Dregs. Letting his higher stature serve as a point of intimidation, the Captain was so transfixed on the Dregs, that he didn't notice as an even larger Fallen than him barreled into him. Sent careening off his feet by the sudden blow, the Captain's breath suddenly became quite strained, almost positive one of his lungs was punctured.

"Kraav…eit avr vild? (What…in the world?)" The Captain choked out, dazed and confused. Looking up at his assailant, the Captain's shock turned to dread as his assailant stepped into the flickering street-light ahead, being even taller than a Captain. Dressed in armor similar to a Kell's, his assailant was from the House of Devils, just like the Dregs, but possessed a thin string belt laced with the skulls of various races, from a human skull to an Exo's detached and deactivated head, even possessing the skull of a Cabal and the detached eye of a Vex. Criss-crossed with that belt was another string belt, this one intertwined with the torn scraps of various House flags, ranging from the House of Kings to the Wolves, even toting an strange green flag piece that the Captain didn't recognize. "Riksis…."

The Vandals raising their Shock Rifles in defense of their Captain, their attention was quickly skewed as a distant noise rang out, followed by the punctual sight of a Vandal's brain-matter leaving his head, dropping to the floor in wake of the Wire Rifle shot that caused it. Looking around for the source of the shot, the other two Vandals didn't know which way to look as Riksis advanced, carelessly stepping onto and over the chest of the downed Captain as another Vandal hit the floor, incapacitated by a Wire Rifle round to the knee. Vainly opening fire on Riksis, the third Vandal was mercilessly blown open by the force of Riksis' much larger Shrapnel Launcher, putting up an admittedly poor fight compared to the Kings' usual ferocity.

"Seev ikt avr Kiithe suva ru puura chattik fikit avr skotar pahka. (Seems like the Kings sent a poor choice for a scouting party)" Riksis taunted, grabbing the third Vandal by the neck and hoisting him into the air. Not caring to hear a response, Riksis tightened his grip, crushing the Vandal's windpipe before tossing him off like a simple object without purpose. Watching with a low smile as the Devil Dregs began to win out over the King Dregs, Riksis decided to get into contact with his sniper support.

_1/4 mile away, on a withered and battered outpost catwalk…_

"Ahvit sool thaav wekitav wuthavil. (I'd say that went well.)" Riksis' sniper commented, standing up and throwing her Wire Rifle onto her back before pulling her sword from the throat of the deceased King Vandal whose position she took.

"Dukat. Geir buk tav kump, ahv wurnt beir loork. (Agreed. Get back to camp, I won't be long.)" Riksis ordered, noting the need to watch what he said as a Devil Captain with a unique armored shoulder pad, possessing two curved spikes on it, walked up to join him.

"Luuv yute ture, Riksis. (Love you too, Riksis.)" The female Vandal said before closing the line, knowing Riksis would've said something similar if her Captain wasn't within earshot of him.

Post-Chapter Note

Sorry that this introductory chapter was a bit small, it was mostly to set the situation up and make the transition to the Moon for the next chapter easier (And yes, you'll get to see that Mystery Knight next chapter). I'm also admittedly a bit nervous about how this story will do, as when compared to ones like Fireteam Warden, I only got as far as the prologue before worrying that people would think my story is going to be 2-D, small-scale, basic, and, well, just a load of non-reading-worthy crap.

Also, in the absence of an official Fallen language, I improv'd and made my own, which I'm writing down and keeping on hand to refer to for future Fallen-only scenes (They'll just use English when conversing with Guardians ala automatic translation methods, whether it be in their helmets or a Guardian's Ghost.). But, if the majority opinion is negative about the whole concept, I'll just axe it and use English across the board to not cram it down people's throats.

Third, the Fallen scene was put in to try and convey the long-term plan for this story, that it's going to be a mixture of more light moments and actual conflict/semi-serious kinds of things. I wish I could outright state the bigger things I have planned, but spoiling it wastes any sense of surprise when said moments come around. In addition, while the story will reference events in the main game from time to time, the actual direct events in this story are largely unrelated to it, and will be an attempt at adding things like The Crow back into the mix after Bungie axed it out.

I also didn't describe everyone's facial features because I wasn't sure if anyone would care to hear it. If many people _would _be interested to know what they look like beneath the helmets, I'll describe it soon, I just didn't want to waste anyone's time if it was largely not interesting to know. In addition, take note: Fireteam Komodo (The group seen for the majority of the chapter) count up to 5 members. You can have 6 at absolute max in-game. Now why might that be?…

Finally, Caldwell being an Exo, _technically _his name, like any Exo, is Caldwell-83, but his teammates and other-such people he associates with simply shorten it to Caldwell in a manner similar to how humans shorten Jonathan down to John or Michael down to Mike, same concept.


	2. New Nightmares

Chapter 2: New Nightmares

_Ridges surrounding the Temple of Xol, Earth's Moon_

"Doesn't this seem a bit off?" Carwyn wondered, finding the way they were divided to be a small bit strange.

"What do you mean?" Alvara questioned, laying prone on the cold, dusty ground, sniper rifle resting by its barrel atop a small rock. Having been in this position for the last 15 minutes with absolutely no signs of any action, Alvara was resting the left cheek-region of her helmet on her left arm in boredom as she stared through the scope.

"I'm a Titan, and you specialized in being a Bladedancer: Why are we up here on the ridge instead of Caldwell and Merikh? Merikh's usually the one with a sniper, and I'm sure Caldwell's Nova Bomb could reach from here down to there if he tried." Carwyn explained, finding it strange that two close quarters-preferring Guardians were yards away up on a ridge for overwatch.

"While I'm not sure about you, Merikh wanted me to get accustomed to a sniper for the sake of…..he called it 'Role Diversity'. I call it ridiculous, personally." Alvara commented, not exactly finding watching three fireteam-mates stand outside a massive door to be good sniper practice. "Wait, looks like they finally got through."

Head snapping up in attention, Carwyn stared down into the small clearing, watching as the massive, encrusted lock-and-chain on the door to the temple begins to change. Slowly becoming enveloped in a green glow, the rune emblazoned in the lock's center is the last to go as the entire thing seems to disappear into thin air. With a thunderous crack, a line of dust explodes from the gap between the two massive, grey doors blocking access to the temple, said doors slowly swinging into the structure in an ominous greeting.

And all was quiet.

"Ok….last time one of these temples was opened, Hive of all kinds stormed out. Where are they now?" Alvara asked over group comms, feeling that something was amiss.

"Oh, crap! We're coming back, get ready to cover!" Merikh yelled, Alvara noticing that all three of them were suddenly in a frantic backpedal, firing into the open temple doors. Focusing her scope to get a better view, Alvara quickly realized something very unsettling.

"Carwyn, get down there and help them. Those aren't Knights…." Alvara lightly ordered, firing her sniper, which ripped a chunk out of the ominous Knight-like Hive's shoulder as it continued to charge.

Standing a stocky 9'5" tall, these unusual Knights bore the same basic helmet design as a standard Knight, but instead of a forward-pointing horn, these Knights had a tapering, crescent-like curve about 6" across that curved backwards over the top of their helmet, possessing two lines of luminescent, bright green pin-like spikes running down the length of the crescent on its far left and right ends. It had the same glowing eyes as a Knight, but its mouth was covered by a hard, veil-like piece made from the same material as its helmet.

Its shoulder pads were of a similar shape, but they curved down over the edge of the shoulder to cover the Knight's biceps entirely, and its forearms were equally armored and possessed vibrant, green Hive Runes emblazoned into the back sides, the back of their gloves also having these runes.

The chest plating was more or less the same, the main difference being a more covered abdominal area, as well as a very peculiar decoration around their hips:

Every one of these Knights possessed what almost looked to be akin to a Titan Mark, consisting of a rectangular strip of dark green fabric embroidered with hundreds of small Hive runes hanging directly from the crotch region, almost like a loincloth, as well as equal-length strips of the same cloth hanging from its belt-line around the right side and back, almost like the Titan's Mark of the Chosen.

The legs were also different, possessing knee guards with a single, sharp spike protruding out. In addition to that, the shinguards seemed covered in a crystal-like collection of the same boney, hard material, as well as combat boot-shaped feet fused to the shinguards, small spikes being visible on the bottoms of each Knight's boot as they ran. While their armor was uniform, their armaments were vastly varied.

Of the four Knight-like Hive charging out, the one in front wielded what looked to be a naginata-like weapon comprised of a long, bumpy, dark grey staff connected to a razor sharp blade, which appeared to almost be made of bone. At the other end of the staff was a small strip of that same dark green cloth, almost like a decorative mark. To compliment that, the other three effortlessly wielded Cleavers in their left hands, and a strange, compact SMG-like gun in their right, the strange weapon firing elongated, glowing green spikes at an alarming rate as they ran.

Focusing on the naginata-wielding Knight in front, Alvara's aim was quickly skewed from its target as the Knight leapt forward with peculiar agility, both hands on its weapon's staff as it made a wide, sweeping swing at Merikh's feet. Missing, the Knight quickly recovered, readjusting its grip to point the bottom end of its weapon at Merikh, before initiating a vertical swing going upwards, then a followup downward diagonal slash, all narrowly missing. Frantically firing his Scout Rifle at the strange Knight, Merikh quickly got out of the way, trying to aim for the eyes in light of its lack of exposed flesh elsewhere. Putting out one of its eyes with a round, the Knight let out a blood-curdling, vicious roar before gripping its weapon near the blade end, thwacking Merikh off his feet and a good 10 feet away with the bottom end in a wide, arcing swing.

Sidestepping a forward leap from one of the dual-wielding Knights, Barrett took advantage of its Cleaver being lodged in the dusty floor to send a shell from his Graviton ESM straight through its elbow joint, rupturing the armor and disconnecting its forearm from the rest of its body. Wailing in pain, the Knight stumbled back to an upright stance before readjusting its posture, dropping its SMG to grip its Cleaver with its remaining hand. Yanking the large blade out of the ground, the Knight quickly kicked into motion, only missing Barrett due to the latter shoulder-charging into its stomach.

Thumping Barrett in the back with the bottom of its cleaver, the strange Knight followed up with a backhand to Barrett's head, making the Titan step back, but little else. Firing another shell into the Knight, this one went for the abdomen, tearing some of its armor apart. Going for a wide, low swing, the Knight's blade was stopped by Barrett's foot, who stepped on the side of it once it impacted before moving his ESM not 2 feet from the Knight's face. Firing a fatal shell, the shotgun ripped through the Knight's exposed eye region, causing the body within the armor to crumple to dust.

Not having as much luck with their two Knights, Merikh and Caldwell decided to group their targets together, wiry little Merikh running between them to get them close before Caldwell hurled a Nova Bomb between them, Merikh avoiding the blast just in time as the Knights were obliterated. Not having kept track of where the last Knight was, Caldwell whipped around to see it preparing to cleave him in two when a sniper round cracked out, chipping off the crescent of its helmet. Turning to see where the shot came from, the Knight all but forgot about Caldwell entirely.

"Hey, bone-boy! Come fight someone who can beat you at your own game!" Alvara yelled, coming down from her sniper position and throwing her sniper onto her back. Seemingly understanding the gist of what Alvara said, the Knight let out a low growl, setting into a full-tilt sprint at Alvara as she drew her knife. The considerably smaller blade becoming enveloped in Arc energy, Alvara matched the Knight's action.

Doing another leaping horizontal swing, the Knight missed as Alvara slid between its legs and under the blade, swinging her knife at its left shin and splitting the armor open. Not wounded enough to impede movement, the Knight surprised Alvara with a shield-shattering 180-degree twirl-swing, striking her in the back as she was rising to her feet. Hitting the ground shoulder-first, Alvara quickly used her forearms to push back to her feet, turning to meet her attacker as said Knight did a trio of diagonally vertical swings, going left, right, left before using an overhead, jumping downward slam to try and disorient her with all the dust it uplifted.

Avoiding the barrage, Alvara met the Knight's blade with hers, the superheated knife searing its way into the ultra-sharp, thin blade of the Knight's weapon, becoming lodged and bringing both combatants' swings to a halt. The rest of the Fireteam finally remembering what they should be doing, Barrett, Merikh, Carwyn, and Caldwell opened fire on the Knight's back, the sheer volume of fire slamming into its back whittling through the armor and tearing its decayed, delicate internals into dust.

Dropping its weapon, the Knight let out a low groan as it collapsed to its knees, an outstretched hand trying to grab Alvara as the fingers inside it visibly dissipated in a cloud of dust, the near-full body suit of armor clanking and rolling on the ground as it all came down.

"Whatever this is…..I'm hesitant to call it a Knight." Alvara pointed out, picking up the strange Knight's helmet and spinning it around to face her teammates.

"A helmet probably wouldn't tell us much, and the Hive dissipating on death makes it even harder to tell if these things are any different….ah! That right there might help." Caldwell's Ghost exclaimed, darting into sight and flashing a light over a piece of fabric lying in the dust. Picking it up for the Ghost, Merikh held the strip of dark green cloth, which had fallen off the Knight's belt, in his hand as Caldwell's Ghost scanned it. "Interesting…it's a lineage story."

"A lineage story?" Carwyn asked, cocking his head at an angle in confusion.

"Yeah, not too different from how you Titans and your Marks tell a story: These runes aren't for encryption or imbuing the cloth with some dark energy, it's a written tale of events that this sub-group of the Hive has been through. In simplistic terms, this particular one's like a written highlight reel of The Hidden Swarm's greatest triumphs. Not just over man, but over the Cabal, the Fallen, and other races we haven't even _seen _yet! This log must go back nearly a millennia…." Caldwell's Ghost elaborated, sounding absolutely fascinated with what he was learning.

"Anything on what these spear-carrying Knights are called? Anything different?" Barrett inquired, kicking one of the dead Knight's gauntlets.

"First, it's called a Naginata, not the same. Second, if I'm translating this correctly, the closest English equivalent I can find is Cavalier. They're almost like Shock Troops in a way. Just…..more religious devotion and zeal than what you might typically imagine." Caldwell's Ghost clarified, finding it strange just how much religious conviction the Hive seemed to possess for their supposed god Oryx.

"So we'll call them Cavaliers. Better than Super-Knights or something like that." Caldwell settled, admittedly finding Cavalier to have a better ring to it.

"Assholes would be a good substitute name if you ask me." Merikh quipped, placing the back of his left hand on his back and arching it inwards in light of getting thumped in the back earlier. Done scanning the piece of fabric, Caldwell's Ghost moved on to the Cavalier's strange, Naginata-like weapon, scanning that too.

"Well that's…..unsettling. This weapon's made of bone, and not just one. In the staff piece I'm detecting Human, Fallen, and even a few Cabal Psion bones. The ornamental guard piece at the base of the blade seems to be fashioned from a large Cabal's skull, and the blade is…..unknown. If I had to guess, it almost looks like it belongs in some large Avian species' wing, but it's hard to say. Whatever it _is,_ it's both sharpened to a razor point and coursing with dark energy. In fact, the whole weapon seems like it's effectively glued together with some form of potent dark energy. Take that out and it'd just fall to pieces as a bunch of broken-up bone chunks." Caldwell's Ghost analyzed, thoroughly intrigued despite the morbid implications of the weapon's creation.

"So they're killing us using our own friends and enemies basically…I know I already stressed how much I hate the Hive, but it's things like this that prove my point." Merikh pointed out, throwing up his hands with a light _I told you so _vibe in his voice.

"What about this thing? Last I checked the only automatic weapons the Hive had were their Shredders." Carwyn asked, kneeling down to look at the strange, one-handed SMG those other Cavaliers were wielding. Floating over to look at it, Caldwell's Ghost was interrupted by the dust behind the weapon shifting around slightly. A boney, grey left hand with long, sharp fingers shooting out of the ground, Caldwell's Ghost and Carwyn backed up quickly as another hand, this one coated in dark red armor plating from the tips of its fingers all the way down its arm, shot out as well. Pulling itself out of the dust, the figure was revealed to be a slightly bigger Acolyte, this one possessing two glowing orbs for eyes like a normal one, but with a vertical, slit-like third eye between and above them instead of a third orb.

Its mouth was veiled by the same mouthguard as a Cavalier, and it almost seemed to possess a mohawk-like row of green spikes running along the center of its helmet, down the back of its neck, and all the way down its back, ending at what looked to be a ripped and torn stump jutting from its posterior. Emblazoned on either side of its mouthguard were a glowing Hive Rune, which Caldwell's Ghost translated as meaning 'The vicious teeth of Oryx' in the Hive language. Why the Hive used orientations of tick marks and half-circles within a large symbol to distinguish the meaning of entire sentences eluded even him.

Its head was a bit lower-set than an Acolyte's, as well as being pushed forward slightly, almost like someone had knocked its whole spine out of line with a blow to the head. These strange spikes seemed to be a strong motif with the creature. running along the tops of its shoulders and down the outer side of both biceps. Its shoulder pads were similar to an Acolyte's, but both pads had a scythe-like crescent protrusion jutting out of the backside, curving down and inwards, stopping at around hip level. Wrapped around its neck was another piece of cloth like the Cavalier's, but instead of seeming peacefully there for decoration, this Acolyte-like Hive had it tied in a tight knot at the back like a sort of noose, the two ends of the strip of cloth going down its back in parallel formation all the way to the floor.

Its chestplate had a sort of V-shape, consisting of multiple stacked layers with the topmost one near its collar region, and what looked to be deep-running gashes throughout it, as if this one was a resurrected zombie even by Hive standards. Its legs were unusually double-jointed, with three large, downward pointing clawed toes in the front and a fourth in the back digging into the ground. Overall the creature stood roughly 6'5", and raised its more armored right hand as if to swipe at one of them, but was cut down in a hail of fire as they all responded accordingly.

Closer by the entrance to the temple, more dust disruptions could be seen, three more of these creatures rising from the sand, their bodies equally damaged and unarmed as the first one. To top it off, three more emerged from within the temple, these possessing less damaged armor, as well as a full-length, spiny, boney tail with those same green spikes running down the back of it in place of the ripped stump the first one had. Instead of being unarmed, these strange Acolytes were carrying peculiar, dark brown rifles that had a similar silhouette to an Auto-Rifle, but possessed a bright green glow coming from within the barrel, as well as having three barrels stacked in a triangle shape instead of one.

"These guys have a special name you could find too?" Barrett asked, taking a ready stance with his Auto-Rifle as the entire Fireteam prepared for another fight.

"The Cavalier's little data-cloth mentioned these things, but I was just hoping they wouldn't be here. If I translated it right, they're called Marauders." Caldwell's Ghost explained, a slight twinge of nervousness in his voice at the implications the name gave.

Post-Chapter Note

Don't really have anyone in particular I'd want to address unlike usual, but I just wanted tot hank everyone who reviewed since honestly, as long as it's not unconstructive hate, providing a good story and getting as much feedback as possible are my only two concerns in all of this.

With that said, any specific comments on the Cavalier and Marauder would be especially welcome, as I'm mostly trying to expand the Hive's arsenal of units in order to present more of that combat diversity Bungie initially wanted in the game. For example, the reason for the Marauder's weird appearance is they'll effectively be dual-sided: They have the strange feet that they do for the sake of being able to go back and forth between being an Acolyte-like front unit, or being incredibly agile and leaping from wall to wall, hanging on the roof, etc., almost like the Slipskulls from the first Resistance game.

Also, I'll be updating my profile with a lot of things, including what music and other sources inspired the direction for this story (Including my depiction of specific species), what stories I'm actively making an effort to update and which ones are backburner'd, which ones are going to be started soon, and ones I'd be open to doing but have a certain hitch preventing it presently. It's all really to just facilitate communication and involvement between me and my readers, since this is more than just something I do for kicks, I genuinely want to have a back-and-forth "community" of sorts.

What I mean specifically is something wherein readers leaving reviews make suggestions, ask questions, etc. and I can respond to that either by including the relevant info in a future chapter or in an Author's Note, anything from loose confirmations of what might or might not happen to why a certain character acts a certain way.

Finally, I cut this chapter a bit short before a big enemy reveal to ask: I want to include the 6th member of Komodo before reaching 10 chapters in this story, but I wanted to ask if any of you would like to see that right after this Moon excursion or a bit later than that.


	3. The Arm of Oryx

Chapter 3: The Arm of Oryx

Dispersing as the Marauders opened fire, the Fireteam quickly retaliated, ducking under the glowing green spikes as they ripped holes right through the strange new Hive.

"Let's head in already, the longer we stay out here, the more we're just wasting ammo." Caldwell directed, reloading his pulse rifle. Being the gun-lover that he is, Barrett stopped when he noticed something strange about the Marauder rifle on the ground.

"Hey, look at this: I can pick this thing up." Barrett noted, snatching up the old Hive rifle. Usually, Hive firearms were so potently charged with dark energy that a Guardian trying to hold it would be like gripping a fistful of hot coals. And yet, this rifle, he could carry. Flying over quickly, Caldwell's Ghost scanned it right there in Barrett's hands, his interest highly piqued.

"Interesting…..it's made from a Guardian's Auto-Rifle. Almost like they took it and modified it in their own way, a sort of reverse-engineering. The Light of its previous owner is still present….and almost being used like an accelerant to increase projectile velocity. I'd need to inspect it more later, but it seems like it could take normal AR mags. I also found a name: 'Necrochasm'…..might be worth calling it that." Caldwell's Ghost analyzed, finding it strange how the tiny sliver of a previous Guardians' Light seemed to enable Barrett to hold it.

"Well, whatever it is, I think I'll take it." Barrett semi-retorted, putting his old Auto-Rifle in his transmat-inventory and readjusting his grip on the Necrochasm. Proceeding inside, the Fireteam found that just beyond the doorway was a long, dark staircase, leading down to who-knows-where.

"If I wasn't technically one of the Fireteam leaders, I'd ask to stand guard at the door…" Merikh muttered, keeping his scout rifle raised as he descended the staircase, the rest of his team not far behind. Following the staircase as it wound down in a spiral shape, the imagery got more and more disturbing.

"Meathooks….more lit candles than the City's got people…..and a morbid sense of decoration. What's next?" Barrett noted as they descended, the walls being lined with thousands upon thousands of small candles illuminating the otherwise dark staircase. Dangling from the ceiling were a series of unsettling chains, some having large metal hooks with sharp points on the end, while others had what looked like a sick mockery of a wind-chime, made from the skeletal remains of Human and Fallen victims.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: This is why I try to avoid Hive assignments. I'd kiss a Cabal before I'd suggest to come here." Merikh protested, his vehement distaste of the Hive getting more and more obvious. It wasn't even the eyes or the frail decayed frames that got him, it was their likeness to a twisted cult that did him in.

"Calm down Merikh….we're just here to see what the Hive are up to. I'd say it's like a deep reconnaissance mission, but that would only be fitting if they didn't know we were here." Caldwell tried to assure, knowing full-well that the Hive were Merikh's one weakness. Vex? A-OK. Cabal? Large-bodied target practice as he called it. Fallen? Skittery little bastards. But the Hive? Merikh would be out the door faster than you can say Traveler's Light if he had the choice. "Why don't you flip your card if it makes you feel better?"

Taking it as a good idea, Merikh withdrew his favorite keepsake from underneath a band wrapped around his right forearm. It was a small, rectangular lead plate with two ancient playing cards stuck to it, the Joker on one side and the Ace of Spades on the other. When in doubt, Merikh would toss and catch the card, and which side he found himself looking at, he took as a sign of things to come. If he struck an Ace of Spades, something good would happen. If he hit the Joker, something bad would happen. Tossing the card as he kept descending, Merikh caught it, his heart sinking when it came up as the Joker.

Putting the card away, Merikh tried to think it was all just his nerves as they reached the bottom of the staircase, reaching a massive, open room. There were coffins lining most of the walls, their quantity only rivaled by the quantity of that mysterious, squishy, black glop that usually accumulated wherever the Hive resided. Their Ghosts starting to appear to give some light, all of them halted from doing so as a Wizard floated by. This one was different, possessing two prominently glowing eyes, a much different skirt, a more defined and visible mouth, and a collar of strange spikes going over one shoulder. Taking cover, they watched.

"What's this Wizard doing…..don't they usually just torture Ogres to make them a great big ball of rage all day?" Alvara asked, seated with her back against the wall as the Wizard softly drifted around the room, as if she were maintaining something. Floating up to one of the coffins, the Wizard gently stroked her claws over the front of it, bringing her head close as if looking for something. Gripping a small handle on the side of the coffin, the Wizard wrenched it downwards. Popping open, the coffin swung open with a hiss and a cloud of black smoke as an Acolyte fell out. Strangely, its eyes were dim, and it had no armor on.

Its eyes flickering before gaining their full, searing glow, the Acolyte tried to stand up, its legs wobbly and off-balance as the Wizard helped it stand. Picking the Acolyte up, the Wizard floated off with the newly-created Acolyte, Caldwell getting a theory together.

"She's…. like a caretaker. It seems as if that Wizard is almost acting in a mother or nurse role, seeing to the creation of new Hive and caring for them like a child until they're ready to go." Caldwell analyzed, thankful that his studies into psychology and neurological patterns in his off-time let him give a more thought-out response than just _Seems like she carts smaller Hive around._

"Just when I thought the Hive couldn't get any creepier….now I've seen a Wizard play mommy." Merikh satirically noted, his irate complaining finally earning him a strike in the ribs from Alvara.

"If that's where the Acolytes come from….we're surrounded, aren't we?" Carwyn pointed out, factoring in the point that if that coffin held an Acolyte, the massive amount of coffins around the room meant there were upwards of 40+ Acolytes around them. Not to mention, they didn't know if Knights were created in a different coffin or not, leaving the possibility of some Knights in here too.

"Technically, you're right. But, on the bright side, we don't know if all of these coffins are occupied or not, and plus, the Wizard let that one out. I doubt they've got an automatic release switch on newborn Hive that can't even fight yet, so we just need to worry about the already up Hive that might walk in." Caldwell assured, rising to his feet slowly as it seemed that the Wizard was long gone. Slowly looking around, Caldwell was hesitant to give an all-clear for their Ghosts to use their flashlights, as they currently had the element of surprise. The air getting more and more tense, Caldwell led the fireteam out of the room and into a more well-lit area. Finding themselves at an overhanging platform, they peered down to find another strange Hive ritual.

"What's with all the smoke in the air? Is there a fire and nobody seems to care?" Alvara asked, watching the gathering down below them.

"Judging by what little I can glean from scanning the air around us, it almost seems like the Hive equivalent of incense. I wouldn't breathe it in though, just because the Hive can provides little evidence that it isn't lethal to anything that isn't practically dead." Caldwell's Ghost explained, eye turning back to the event going on down below. It was another room covered in lit candles, this one in the shape of a large, circular, almost auditorium-like room, with rows of Acolytes and Knights down on their knees. Hands placed over their knees and their heads pointed down to the floor, the Hive seemed to almost be in a state of meditation, all surrounding a lone Wizard floating in the center of the room. Slowly drifting around the small circular section of floor she had, the Wizard began to sing in a loose sense of the word.

Not saying any comprehensible words, the Wizard sang in a manner akin to a necrotic opera singer, hands moving around in gentle, wide-armed gestures. Turning aimlessly as if guided by the force of her arm gestures, the Wizard continued to serenade the meditating Hive surrounding her.

"I recognize that name…it's-" Caldwell's Ghost began to explain, being cut off by a voice behind them.

"Ir Yût, the Deathsinger. Here to give her daily serenade to the loyal disciples of Crota." The voice finished, the Fireteam turning around to find a darkly-dressed woman standing behind them. She had a strange symbol painted on her chest piece, what little of her skin they could see was a sickly pale color, and she had a black piece of cloth wrapped tightly over her eyes. Where her eyes should be, there were two glowing green dots, a third one above and between them like an Acolyte. Trailing down from said eyes was a tear stain-like stream of moving black ink, which was quite unsettling.

"And you are….?" Caldwell inquired, weapon raised at the unknown person.

"Eris Morn, I was one of six Guardians who dared to challenge Crota. Only I survived." Eris explained, a small green orb floating between her hands.

"I've heard of you….the fall of legends like Toland, Pahanin, all in that one great tragedy. The City thought you were dead." Caldwell informed, easing his stance. "What's with the orb?"

"Crota took my Light, my Ghost, everything. In that moment, I was able to raise my hand for one last strike, and I took it. It wasn't in any way close to doing him any serious harm, but after he had left, presuming me dead, I found my strike had chipped off a chunk of the monstrous god-king's very being. With my Light gone, I took the shard in my hands, and it encased itself within this bubble you see now. It's bound to me, I'm bound to it: me and the shard are intertwined at the soul." Eris explained, a slight grimace on her face as she remembered that fateful day. Toland didn't even get to see Crota, and Pahanin was dead from Crota's sword through his back before he even knew what happened.

"Well, you're still on our side, right? Because if you're going to turn into another Dredgen Yor, I'm dropping you right here." Barrett threatened as he raised his new rifle, the tip not 5" from Eris' face. Eris didn't even flinch.

"I want nothing more than to see Crota's armies shattered and his soul extinguished. I promise I'm on your side." Eris assured, prompting Caldwell to push the barrel-end of Barrett's gun down. What little they could see of Eris' face starting to gain an off, unsettled expression, Eris pulled her right hand away from her mysterious orb, drawing a Regulator Mk. 43 Hand Cannon. Barrett raising his rifle again, a single round cracked out from Eris' weapon, yet nobody seemed to get hit. Turning around slowly, the entire Fireteam noted as Eris' aim wasn't terrible, she just wasn't aiming at them. Letting out a low growl, the Marauder that was preparing to run Merikh through the back with the tip of its Necrochasm rifle slowly fell apart, the hole where its third eye should've been getting the point across strongly. "We might want to run. Now."

Noticing that the singing had stopped, the entire Fireteam turned to look behind them, Ir Yût having ceased her serenade in favor of almost yelling orders to the Hive surrounding her. That in tandem with her violent pointing gestures in the Fireteam's direction, and the picture was quite obvious.

"I'd call that a good idea…move!" Caldwell yelled, him and everyone else breaking into a sprint as the sound of wailing Thralls got louder and louder. Running back the way they came, all 6 of them ran through the massive, heavy double-doors leading back into that breeding chamber.

"Barrett, Carwyn, try and shove those doors closed! Caldwell and Eris, help Barrett. Alvara, you and me help Carwyn." Merikh ordered, everyone throwing themselves shoulder-first into the doors in an attempt to close them. Even with the strength of two Titans, the doors made a sickening, cracking noise as they slowly broke free from their encrusted, fixed state. Starting to budge, the doors gradually slammed shut, Barrett grabbing hold of a metal bar protruding from the far end of his door. Seeing the same thing on Carwyn's door, the two Titans pulled these bars together, slamming a crude lock system into place and sealing the door shut.

"And I thought your Exo friend was the leader…" Eris mumbled to Alvara, noting that both he and Merikh have exhibited leader-like behavior.

"Caldwell and Merikh, the Hunter in orange, run a sort of joint-leadership. There's been a bit of a back-and-forth debate between them about who's the better tactician. They're both good leaders and good at seeing the whole picture, but neither one can prove they're better than the other, so they settled on what we have now. Not the most rock-solid form of leadership, but it's worked for us so far." Alvara explained, relaxing her stance as everyone got their breath. Hearing a faint crunching noise, Caldwell cocked his head slightly to the side in confusion as he tried to register what was causing it.

"Anyone else hear that? I don't think we're-" Caldwell started to state as their Ghosts appeared to provide some light. Making a long turn to sweep the room for signs of more life, Caldwell's flashlight passed over a crouched Thrall, the decrepit monster letting out a bone-chilling shriek before leaping right at him, cutting him off. Wrapping its boney legs around his hips, the Thrall rode Caldwell to the floor, wrenching his helmet off before trying to take swings at his exposed face. The faint glow of his white optics illuminating the Thrall's eyeless face, Caldwell let go of his pulse rifle, bringing both hands up to hold back the Thrall's arms. Screaming in frustration that it couldn't claw Caldwell's face apart, the Thrall was oblivious as Caldwell pressed the back of his head into the floor, quickly swinging it straight up to headbutt the Thrall. Caving the top of the Thrall's fragile skull in, Caldwell was able to push to his feet as the Hive's body went limp and disintegrated.

Grabbing his rifle and helmet, everyone started to whip around as the sound of a wet, tearing noise began to occur. Looking up, the Ghosts shined their lights upwards to see a faint, green light poking through the various cocoons hanging from the ceiling. Watching as the Thralls within slowly cut through their cocoons, the entire Fireteam and Eris moved out from under as the Thralls fell from the roof. Still coated in a fine, glossy liquid as they rose to their feet, the Thralls skittered to their feet and sprinted at the first non-Hive they saw. Opening fire, the Fireteam let loose as their rounds smashed through the newly-created Thralls' underdeveloped armor, cutting them down even easier than usual.

Their deaths causing a massive dust-storm as their disintegrated remains were flung around by the still-living Thralls sprinting through, nobody saw as a Marauder, alerted by the ruckus, sprinted in. Dual-wielding those strange, black SMG-like spike-throwing guns, the Marauder ran through the dust-storm, leaping straight up and flipping upside down to clutch a hanging meathook with its feet. Using its momentum to swing the meathook like a chandelier, the Marauder opened fire, sending down a hail of glowing green spikes as it let go of the meathook, latching onto the wall behind its targets next. Not staying for long, the Marauder leapt next to one of the columns around the room, putting away its guns to skitter on all fours out of sight around the column's far side.

Keeping the Fireteam's attention, the Marauder left them looking in the wrong place as a Naginata-wielding Cavalier sprinted into the room as well, narrowly missing Eris with a sweeping horizontal slash. Getting pushed out of the way, Eris was surprised to see it was Barrett of all people, who leapt up to strike the Cavalier across the face with his right forearm. Stumbling back, the Cavalier regained its senses as it wound up a swing with its Naginata to try and bisect Barrett. Putting away his rifle, Barrett caught the weapon just short of the blade, his feet sliding backwards just a few inches as they dug into the floor. Locking in a stalemate, neither combatant seemed to have an advantage.

"Can somebody try and _shoot this asshole?!_" Barrett yelled, pushing forward with all his strength as he held back the Cavalier's blade. Having just run dry in his mag, Merikh frantically tried to think of the fastest way to help, resulting in his decision to toss a throwing knife directly at the Cavalier. Puncturing its third eye, the throwing knife caused the Cavalier to let go, bringing its hands up to wrench the knife free from its eye. Too preoccupied with that, the Cavalier failed to notice as Barrett flipped the Naginata around to hold it properly, swinging the blade right into the Cavalier's neck. With the Cavalier down, they were able to focus their attention elsewhere as the Marauder popped up again, trying to shoot them from the side of a column. Retaliating, one of Merikh's rounds shattered the Marauder's ankle, causing it to let go and fall to the floor. Writhing in panic as it tried to get up, the Marauder's tail was like a weapon all its own as it whipped back and forth, the strange Hive being silenced by more gunfire soon after.

"I'd say we've seen everything there is to see, let's go. Eris, you can ride with one of us." Caldwell ordered, turning to prepare to leave. Ikora was going to know they needed to step up their efforts on studying the Hellmouth.

"Not yet, there's something you need to see first. This way." Eris guided, signaling for everyone to follow her. Leading them through a different door, Eris could almost feel the way to her target, the shard of Crota guiding her. Everyone hurrying as the sound of screaming Thralls could be heard not far off, Eris led them through another door, and another, until they came to an open, ominous room. In the center was a tall structure, almost like a large globe, with numerous pin-like arms poking at it repeatedly. "A Shrine of Oryx. If we can destroy it, we slow the Hive's advance. Without it, their lane of communication with their god grows thinner."

"I've seen this before, another Guardian destroyed one just like this. Their Ghost shared the algorithm to weaken its defenses, shouldn't take me long." Caldwell's Ghost appeared, flying into a small chamber at the base of the shrine. Starting to tamper with it, this triggered one of the chamber's doors to slide open. With thunderous footsteps, a massive Cavalier, almost as tall as the pedestal the shrine's orb sat upon, stepped out, wielding a proportionately massive Naginata. Its body was cracked and seething with cyan energy, its eyes glowing the same color instead of the typical green. Dragging the Naginata along the floor, the Cavalier let out an ear-splitting roar, just as their HUDs gathered a name:

_Kradok, the Arm of Oryx_

"Oh dear…reports show one of these was at the other Shrine too. They appear to be some kind of guardian." Merikh's Ghost appeared, looking at the giant Cavalier.

"Do those reports say anything about the other one carryin' a bigass cleaver on a stick?" Barrett asked, ready to open fire on its head.

"For the last time, it's called a Naginata!" Caldwell's Ghost yelled from within the shrine, becoming quite irate at Barrett's inability to understand the difference. Falling back, all Guardians and Eris fled as Kradok charged them, performing a leaping overhead slam. Missing its targets, the thunderous clang of the blade smashing into the ground echoed through the room, being followed up with a sweeping right to left swing. Letting out another howl, Kradok called for backup, its call being answered as four Cavaliers, two Ogres, and a group of Marauders stormed in.

"God _dammit! _Ogres, take cover!" Merikh yelled, sprinting to avoid an Ogre's head-beam. Sliding behind a piece of cover, he was ambushed as a Marauder dual-wielding a pair of strange, sickle-like blades leapt at him. Currently seated with his back against his cover piece, Merikh bent forward, ducking as the Marauder's blade struck the cover behind him. Swinging his leg in a sweep motion, Merikh tripped the Marauder, stumbling to his feet before putting three rounds through the Marauder's head. Being attacked by a second one, Merikh side-stepped as this Marauder, dual-wielding those black spike-throwers, tried to shoulder-bash him. Missing, the Marauder got him anyway with an abrupt tail-swipe, the pointed tip of its tail slashing his left shin. Hurling a knife at the Marauder, it did very little, pinging off the Marauder's reinforced chestplate. Running out of options, Merikh's issue was quickly resolved as Barrett charged in, tackling the Marauder.

"Go help Caldwell with the Ogres, I got this one." Barrett ordered, trying to throw a straight punch directly into the Marauder's eyes. Jerking its head out of the way, the Marauder survived as Barrett's fist cracked the floor, placing one foot on Barrett's stomach before shoving him off. Using all its strength, the Marauder was actually able to launch Barrett into the low ceiling they were under at the back of the shrine, disorienting him as he fell back down. Making a quick whipping motion, the Marauder was able to flip onto its feet, foregoing its guns as it let out a guttural screech noise, swinging a wide-arcing kick into Barrett's head as the Titan was on one knee, preparing to get up. Falling onto his hands and knees, Barrett shoved straight up, catching the Marauder's next kick before twisting its leg. Causing the Marauder to fall to the floor, Barrett yanked backwards, ripping the Hive's leg right out as it disintegrated into dust. Not done, the Marauder writhed onto its hands and remaining knee, leaping onto Barrett. Digging its claws into his collar, the Marauder was quickly struck in the abdomen, followed by having its frail neck split apart as Barrett pulled out his Necrochasm rifle, dragging the pointed tip across its neck.

Meanwhile, Alvara was serving as a distraction for the Ogres, sliding between one's legs only to rise and keep running behind it as it turned to face her. Becoming heavily frustrated, the Ogres failed to notice as Caldwell leapt from his cover position, hurling a Nova Bomb directly into an Ogre's back. Disintegrating it, this left the other one without backup as Alvara leapt onto its back, knife in one hand and auto-rifle in the other as she clung onto the decrepit monster. Wedging her knife between some of the Ogre's ribbed back-plates, Alvara pulled backwards, starting to pry one of them off. Feeling it pop out of place, Alvara was then able to wedge her auto-rifle's barrel between the plate and the Ogre's body, firing off her mag straight into the back of its heart. Not quite dead, the Ogre was able to writhe and twist violently enough to hurl Alvara off, who landed shoulder-first against the hard ground a few feet away.

"Well, at least I did some damage…." Alvara mumbled, seeing the Ogre prepare to vaporize her with its head-beam, right until a rocket struck it in the side of the head. Letting out a crying roar, the Ogre's arms flung out in front as if desperately trying to reach for Alvara as it collapsed into dust. Looking to her right, sure enough Caldwell had her back, putting away his Deacon RS/2 Rocket Launcher. Rising to her feet and sprinting off of the open field to avoid Kradok, Alvara went from one mess right into another as Carwyn twisted the head right off the last Marauder, only to avoid being cleaved apart by a Cavalier. All four dual-wielding a Cleaver in one hand and the strange spike-gun in the other, the Cavaliers quickly lost one as Merikh blew a hole clean through the back of one's head, alerting the other three. Being distracted as Eris, still having not lost her touch as a Hunter, nimbly sidestepped through the room to fire on them, the Cavaliers quickly decided to split up. One going for Merikh, another for Eris, and the third for Caldwell and Alvara, they tried to divide and conquer.

Trying to shorten Eris at the neckline, the Cavalier that targeted her leapt forward and tried to swing its Cleaver in a straight right-to-left slash, the blade impacting the wall of the shrine's entrance hall with a loud clang. Putting one of its eyes out with a quickdraw round to the head from her hand cannon, Eris ran into a bit of trouble as the Cavalier's panicked spray of spike fire grazed her left thigh, tearing through her uniform and drawing blood. Both combatants heading to the floor, the Cavalier dropped to a kneel while Eris hit the floor face-down, lifting her head and right arm to fire on the Cavalier's face again. Cracking its mouthguard, Eris found her luck running thin as the Cavalier stood up again, placing one boot on Eris' back as it tried to sadistically crush her ribs flat. Bearing down with more and more pressure as time went on, the Cavalier was only moments away from hearing the sickening crack it desired when a heavy blow struck it in the back. Flying off its feet and past Eris, that blow just so happened to be Barrett, barreling into the Cavalier's back with a shoulder-charge. Drawing his shotgun, Barrett delivered a heavy stomp to the back of the Cavalier's head, disorienting it before leaving very little head left to stomp as he point-blank blasted it.

Merikh having dealt with his Cavalier much like the first one, all that was left was Caldwell and Alvara's Cavalier, who was currently pinned down. Taking cover just inside the Shrine while Alvara and Caldwell were outside, the Cavalier couldn't get three seconds to run out there without receiving a hail of gunfire, Caldwell and Alvara conveniently also being in a position where Kradok couldn't reach them. Not knowing what was about to hit it, the Cavalier was surprised when one of Eris' old throwing knives struck it in the back of the head, followed by a round through its right shoulder from Merikh's sniper. Severing the arm, the Cavalier's left leg was next, being split at the knee by Barrett's shotgun. Yelping repeatedly in a combination of furious anger, confusion, and panic, the Cavalier frenetically hopped on its remaining leg, swinging its Cleaver wildly as it tried to hit something. _Anything._

Not making it much longer, the Cavalier got struck from all angles at once as every one of them fired, Eris grazing its neck while Caldwell and Alvara riddled its chest, Barrett tearing off the other arm with his shotgun as Merikh delivered the finale headshot with his sniper. Having a moment's peace, Merikh was the first to notice Carwyn's absence, as well as the repeated pulse rifle fire outside the shrine. Before any of them could act, a thunderous noise erupted, sounding similar to a rift tearing in space as the color around them distorted. Crescendoing in a massive explosion and a flash of light above their heads, all of them ran outside to the sight of Carwyn dodging Kradok, having taken out the Shrine of Oryx following Caldwell's Ghost disabling its defenses. Seeing one of the pin-like arms had fallen back and was pointing out towards the door Kradok emerged from, Merikh got an idea.

"Alvara, you and Caldwell get Kradok's attention. Barrett, you're with me." Merikh ordered, Eris being left hanging without any directive. Giving an open-armed '_Seriously?_' gesture, Eris decided to just go with Caldwell and Alvara.

"Hey, big guy! Over here!" Alvara yelled at the top of her lungs, hurling a Flux Grenade into Kradok's back. Detonating with little actual damage dealt, it still served its purpose as Kradok turned to face her and Caldwell, only having further reason to chase as Caldwell hurled an Axion Bolt as well. Taking the bait, Kradok cleared the gap in a few short strides, trying to cleave both Guardians in two as he unknowingly stepped right into position.

"Alright, now!" Merikh yelled, drawing a Hand Cannon from his pocket. Raising it straight up, the gun became enveloped in a golden glow, almost on fire with the intensity of the sun itself as he fired three vibrant, solar-charged rounds directly into Kradok's head. Stumbling backwards from the force of the rounds, Kradok was finally eliminated as Barrett's body became enveloped in electricity, leaping directly at Kradok's feet with both arms raised over his head. Slamming the ground with both fists, the resulting electrical blast caused enough of a concussive shock to force Kradok the rest of the way back, the pin-like arm from the shrine protruding through the back of its neck. Dropping its Naginata, the Arm of Oryx failed in its mission as it gripped the pin with both arms, collapsing into dust as its massive armor struck the ground, causing noise akin to chunks of a building falling off.

"Good…..with the Arm of Oryx destroyed, the Hive grow weaker. With Guardians like you, we may just stand a chance." Eris semi-complimented, putting away her hand cannon.

"In that case, let's get the hell out,_now. _I love the Hive as much as the next undead guy, but seriously, let's leave, _please._" Merikh pleaded, just about to turn and leave when he heard a bit of commotion behind him.

"Eris, you're hit. You could probably use some help walking." Caldwell pointed out, Eris' leg grazing looking nastier as time went on.

"I'm fine, I've survived this long against the Hive, so I don't need anyone to help me-" Eris started to rebuke, her wounded leg giving way under her as she went face-first for the floor.

"Yep, definitely used to be a Hunter….." Merikh lowly chuckled, finding that a Hunter's hard-headed sense of independence almost seemed to come with the job automatically.

_Meanwhile, Somewhere in Old Russia, 2 PM…._

These were always the best assignments. No Captain Sigaris to loom over her shoulder and judge her every move, no nosey Dregs trying to prod her into putting in a good word about them to Riksis, just her and the open wilderness. Sitting with her back against a rock, the Vandal Kyva closed her eyes, relaxed with Wire Rifle in her lap as the gentle sound of the wind blew through, her mind doubling back to how thankful she was that Sigaris wasn't here. He wasn't a misogynist, nor was he exceptionally cruel to the other Devils, there was just something about her in particular that swung his mood to that of a far more abusive, iron-fisted commander with an almost direct disdain for the Vandal's very presence. Honestly, the only reason Riksis hadn't caved his skull in for pestering her yet is his lineage ties to the Kell, giving him a form of immunity to do as he pleased. Hearing a distinct howling noise, Kyva's mind snapped back to attention as she remembered that she's supposed to be the only Devil scouting party in the area, and it hasn't even been an hour. Riksis wouldn't send out a search party unless she'd been gone for 6. Quickly asserting a kneeling position, Kyva scanned the scenery through her scope, spotting the last thing she wanted to see.

_A King Hunting Party…..just what I didn't need _Kyva mentally lamented, her irritation growing even higher as she verified that they did, in fact, have Shivs with them. Affectionately named for their small knife-like teeth, the four-legged hunting hounds had 6 glowing blue eyes, three lined up side-by-side on either side of their long, razor tooth-filled mouths. Possessing three rows of sharp, almost blade-like teeth, the creatures had a small crest of fur atop their heads, offset by their dark brown, leathery skin and spiney quills running down their backs. With four clawed toes on each foot, the Shivs frenetically leapt and bounded over rocks and into crevices, searching for even the slightest fresh scent of a hostile creature. Dressed in special Shiv-specific body armor that covered their chest, the top of their head, and their legs, the Shivs were quite obviously yellow in color, flying their House colors without even knowing it. About to take a shot, Kyva hesitated when she saw another special King unit, the BladePriest.

Standing roughly right in-between the average height of a Captain and the average height of an Archon or Archon Priest, the BladePriest had the same helmet as an Archon Priest, though its non-yellow areas were tinted a reflective, almost chrome-like metal color. Matching that, the rest of its body consisted of ribbed, almost overlapping metal pieces, all the same dark chrome color. With four large, curved, knife-like blades affixed to the front of each foot in a manner resembling clawed toes, the BladePriest's scariest feature were still its weapons. Wielding a Shrapnel Launcher in its upper hands, the two lower hands were left free to hang, both lower arms having large, dual-bladed wrist-blades affixed to their forearms. Diving behind her rock for cover, Kyva let the patrol pass, knowing that even she, in all her experience fighting the Kings, couldn't take a BladePriest on her own. Listening as the footsteps got quieter, the silence was abruptly ended as a poorly aimed Hand Cannon round barely chipped the edge of the rock she hid against. Looking to where the shot came from, standing there were two Guardians, one holding a rickety old Hand Cannon while the other blindly seemed to not notice his safety was still on. Not impressed, Kyva aimed in and fired on the one with the Hand Cannon, the white cloth wrapped around his neck being stained red as his life quickly ended.

Throwing her Wire Rifle onto her back, Kyva bolted to her feet, closing the gap between her and the remaining Guardian, a Warlock only barely into his first day of new life. Not knowing how to respond as his gun wasn't firing, the Warlock tried vainly to swing at Kyva, meekly striking the side of her helmet with the stock of his Auto-Rifle. Now vastly more irritated, Kyva drew her Shock Swords, slashing one over the Warlock's stomach before slashing the other one over his neck, the Warlock's helmet morbidly rolling backwards off his shoulders. Sheathing her swords, something caught Kyva's eyes. Hands darting out quickly to snatch it, Kyva intercepted the dead Warlock's Ghost, keeping it firmly stuck between all four hands as she moved her thumbs out of the way, allowing its eye to stare up into hers.

"Kraav kud iu tull mik? (What can you tell me?)" Kyva asked, the Ghost's eye flickering as it translated her speech, debating whether it should play along or not. Having always been more interested in restoring her people to their former glory rather than just spitefully killing humans, Kyva was genuinely excited to see if this strange machine could tell her something.

Post-Chapter Note

Not much to say aside from that I'm greatly thankful for all the feedback, and I hope this chapter went well. I tried to heavily emphasize the creepy aspect of the Hive while still making them seem like an intelligent civilization, and even adding in a tinge of that Undead Royalty stuff Bungie mentioned. Needless to say I'll be doing more of that going forward, as we get more into Hive palaces instead of temples, but one step at a time. Also, a big part of my depiction of the Deathsinger here came from something that was cited in the design of the Vagary boss from Doom 3: "Sexy + Gross = Creepy". While there's nothing really outright gross about the Deathsinger's appearance, it's mostly the combination of her engaging in an action that almost seems beautiful (What can almost be described as a form of opera singing) and the way she moves while doing so coupled with her…not so beautiful appearance that makes it creepy. Less focused on up-front gross imagery and more focused on subliminal vibes of a sort of sick, twisted beauty in its own way.

Second, any feedback on the limited appearance of the Shivs and the Bladepriest would be greatly appreciated, as this was mostly a teaser to throw the ideas out there and get a grasp on a general opinion before I really heavily use them. I've still got another Fallen unit to show, which I'll say now is named the Thug, as well as a Cabal unit named the Decurio that I teased in my other Destiny story. There's also ideas for a new Vex unit, but that's not as far along. Mostly trying to draw inspiration from something without outright copying that thing, so I'm trying to find ways to make the unit feel more unique. Also, I'll say it now, Eris will appear quite a few times throughout the story. I wasn't too fond of her before the Dark Below released, but after getting to play it, hear her dialogue, and play her Quests, she's heavily grown on me since then. I won't spoil anything, but I will say there's a happy ending in it all for her.

Finally, since this story is mostly avoiding directly depicting missions from the game, that includes the Raids. To signify when they happen in a manner more significant than just "Oh, BTW, the Vault of Glass got knocked over by a team of Guardians last week", if anybody wants to send PMs of details regarding a Guardian of their choosing to be depicted in the story, please do so. I'll most likely mark such events with a Tower award ceremony where 6 chosen PMd Guardians stand and be commended, but I might also cut to them actively in the Raid for a brief period (Just not the whole thing). While Komodo and my three Guardians I play (Who are actually totally separate from Komodo, they'll pop in every now and then as deuteragonist-ey characters) will abide by the one Exotic Weapon and one Exotic Armor rule, I couldn't care less what you guys want your armor to be, so long as it's all from the same class. Want to have Ruin Wings, the Alpha Lupi Crest, and the Stand Asides together on the same Titan? Go right ahead. All I need is a name, gender, species, armor list (Or description if it's custom), and class. Age, personality, and weapons are optional, so send that too if you want, but you don't have to. Every FF user who sends in a Guardian will have their name and the name of their Guardian credited at the end of any chapter their Guardian appears in. It won't be incredibly soon that the Vault happens, but I promise it will happen. And if your submission isn't picked, they might still appear in some other manner, so always keep an eye out.


	4. Unsettled Settlement

Chapter 4: Unsettled Settlement

_In the Tower, Earth's Last City…_

"So, where's Merikh?" Caldwell asked, walking with Alvara as they moved away from the VTOL shuttle that took them up here.

"With Barrett and Carwyn at some bar in the lower districts, something about them having better alcohol for forgetting experiences than the higher-class areas." Alvara answered with a smile, her vibrant red hair almost seeming to be part of a theme, in line with her glowing orange eyes and faded red facial markings, all offset by her dull, slightly blue-tinted skin.

"I'm surprised he took charge so well against Kradok, I'd say he earned it." Caldwell admitted, seeing Eris standing by the stairs leading down to the Vanguards. Walking over to join them, her leg wound was covered by a white piece of cloth wrapped around it, the small pieces of cloth protruding from the end of the knot giving an oddly innocent vibe in comparison to Eris' otherwise dark and morbid appearance. "Looks like somebody's doing better, did the doctor let you off easy or did you sneak out?"

"I was let off easy in light of it being a minuscule injury. Are both of you ready to help back up my point to the Vanguard? You've seen what the Hive are capable of." Eris asked, hoping these two had her back so she didn't seem like a blubbering witch.

"Relax, we'll have your back on this." Caldwell assured, placing one hand on Eris' shoulder. Walking down to the Vanguard's table, what they found was an incredibly peculiar sight.

"And, as you can see, they are _completely _safe and under my control." A scrawny young man, not possibly older than 20, explained. What was so confusing was that the 'they' he was referring to were a pair of bright white Vex Goblins. Behind that were a pair of bright white Vex Hobgoblins, and behind _them _were two bright white Vex Minotaurs. Strangely, their eyes were glowing white instead of red, and they were active, yet simply standing at attention completely unarmed instead of trying to kill the Vanguard. Emblazoned on the right shoulders of the Minotaurs, at the end of both Hobgoblins' horns, and on the foreheads of the Goblins, was the Traveler's symbol. In addition, all three types had a fur collar around their necks not unlike the one on Arcite 99-40.

"And….how, exactly, did you make these things?" Ikora Rey asked, finding their docile manner almost off-putting.

"Oh, my older brother's a Warlock. I asked him to round up some dead Vex for me and bring them to our family's old farmhouse outside the City. Apparently my grandparents abandoned it when the City was first being built, and the Fallen never touched it. I've got a license to leave the City when I want since my brother's a Guardian, so after he got me some dead Vex, I stripped them out. I removed all the nerve-strands, the mind core, and all its neural interfaces. Literally all that's left is a lifeless, metal frame, and whatever weird alloy their outer plating's made of. The plates and frame themselves aren't part of the Vex interfaces, much like how a human's bones don't have anything to with your nerves. So, basically, this is just a big hunk of metal and weird alloys from Traveller-knows-where that's shaped like a Vex, I even swapped out the whole optic system for the same one Frames use." The man explained, gesturing his hands in front of the Goblins as he spoke.

"I'm pretty sure she was mostly asking how you got it to run. Unless you've got some strings holding them up." Cayde satirically clarified, admittedly impressed despite the deathly massive safety risks.

"Oh, that….well, in absence of the mind core and nerve-strands, I replaced those parts with a Frame's AI core and the circuitry commonly used in Frames. It's literally a Frame wearing a different set of clothes, so to speak. I covered up the exposed core regions with some armor plating, and calibrated the Frame systems to register all Fallen, Hive, Cabal, and Vex as hostiles. It'll also register non-uniformed humans and Awoken carrying weapons as hostile, but in the case of those it'll only shoot if a request for the target to stand down is ignored. I even wrote my own special AI algorithms for weapon handling, so its range of weaponry is less restrictive." The young engineer elaborated, grabbing a few Auto-Rifles from a cart he had wheeled down here.

"Less restrictive?" Commander Zavala asked, his interest piqued.

"Yeah, here I have a pair of Suros Regime rifles that a few Guardians generously lent me for the sake of this demonstration. As you can see, the rifles are completely empty, and their mags are totally dry." The engineer showed, mostly to put the Vanguard's expected concerns to rest. "As I'm sure you know, the Suros Regime is a complicated rifle with a lot of data being fed back to the user through the little screen just below the optics. Between that and the multi-step loading process, and this gun's about as confusing to an average Frame as calculus to a carpenter. Using some special mimetic memory processes and motion capturing tech, I was able to basically let these things learn through repetition and memory as I operated the weapon myself. Retaining my motions, these machines basically learned how to operate the weapon themselves."

"Notice how quickly he said basically twice? He's nervous." Alvara whispered with a low chuckle, watching as the man continued to give his demonstration. Passing the unloaded rifles to the two Goblins, the man let his work speak for him. Accepting the guns in their slightly modified right hands, the machines' first collective instinct was to hit the mag release, checking the mag's currently loaded ammo before popping it back in.

"I'd have to take them down to a firing range to show them actually operating it, but here's the really cool thing:" The man said with a smile, signaling for the 6 Vex-Frames to stand side-by-side. Holding up a picture of the Speaker, he asked for them to identify it. "Frames, identify the target."

"Target identity: Speaker. Action directive: Protect at all costs." The Vex-Frames said in unison, showing that they fully registered the Speaker as a friendly HVT.

"Good, identify the individuals in front of you."

"Targets identified: Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6, Titan Vanguard Commander Zavala, Warlock Vanguard Ikora Rey. Action directive: Protect all three at all costs."

"As you can see, their speech is still a little rigid since they're not even a week old. With some time they'll loosen up and be more approachable like some of the other Frames." The man explained with a meek smile, hoping he was making a good impression.

"I think I've seen all I need to see, we appreciate the demonstration. We'll contact you once we've made a decision." Commander Zavala thanked, dismissing the engineer.

"B-but uh…..you like it, right?" The engineer blubbered, his nervousness shining through like a strobe light now.

"It's risky and a bit crazy, but once we talk to the Speaker about it, we'll decide if the risk is worth it." Cayde explained, effectively doing the same thing Zavala did. Head hanging slightly forward in disappointment, the man signaled for his Vex-Frames to follow as he left. Making it just out of the room, he was quickly confronted by a woman whom Alvara was quite surprised to see.

"I'd like my rifle back, especially since it seems like your demonstration's over." The woman, a 5'7" tall Awoken Titan, lightly demanded with her arms crossed as she glared at the engineer.

"Alright, alright, here. Take it." The man conceded, signaling for one of the Goblins to let go of their Suros Regime rifle before passing it over to her. Putting it on her back, the woman turned and left, Alvara's odd expression catching Caldwell's attention.

"Who was that? Someone you know?" Caldwell inquired, finding Alvara's behavior quite odd.

"It's my older sister Sivala. She's in a different fireteam with my younger sister and an Exo friend of theirs, I wasn't expecting to run into her up here." Alvara explained, Caldwell starting to see the similarities. They both had the same hairstyle, with long hair on one side while it was pulled back on the other, only difference being Sivala's hair, eyes, and facial marks were purple instead of orange or red. Deciding it was a topic for later, Caldwell gestured for them to keep going.

"Ah, Caldwell. Who is this?" Ikora asked as they approached, gesturing to Eris.

"This," Caldwell introduced, standing just behind Eris and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Is Eris, one of the Guardians that went on that attack against Crota. Turns out, she was the only one who lived."

"I remember that…..we thought you were dead." Zavala noted, finding it unfortunate that none of his Titans that had committed to the assault survived.

"Regardless, why are you here? And…..what exactly happened to you?" Ikora wondered, noting Eris' three glowing eyes.

"Crota, he took my Light. My Ghost, my allies, he took _everything from me_. I came here to assure to you all in person that I want nothing more than to see Crota's end, and the complete halting of the Hive's efforts to take Earth." Eris explained, the strain in her voice when she explained what Crota had done showing that there was a great deal of emotional investment in this goal.

"Do you have any proof to show that the Hive are actively trying to attack Earth? Because if not, it'll be very difficult for us to take your word for it." Zavala pointed out, sounding like he wanted to be on her side, but needed a bit more proof to do so.

"Their Ghosts captured quite a bit of data to show how militaristically active the Hive are. We haven't attacked the Moon since that failed assault on Crota, for them to be behaving like this shows they've got plans of their own." Eris asserted, her argument sounding painfully weak. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten just how rigid the Vanguard had to be as part of the job description despite loose cannons like Cayde being part of it.

"Well, get that data to us and we'll see if we can trust what you're saying. Until then, you can stay in the Tower, but we don't have much to discuss." Zavala explained, effectively dismissing Eris. Oddly enough, this seemed to elicit a slightly disappointed expression from Ikora, which she quickly hid. "Speaking of Ghosts: Caldwell, we have small task for your Fireteam to look into. A small mining town outside the City that's stayed standing despite repeated attacks by the Fallen and Vex. We sent some Guardians out there to protect the town, but we haven't heard from them. If you could, go check it out. The coordinates have already been sent to your Ghost."

With a silent nod, Caldwell turned and left, Alvara not far behind.

_Later, at a decrepit mining town in Warsaw, Poland…_

Their jumpships speeding by with a loud screaming noise, all five of them trans-matted their occupants out, the five Guardians landing gently at the edge of the town.

"Looks empty, you think they're all dead?" Merikh wondered, not having high hopes. And as if to completely skew his question, a gunshot rang out, narrowly missing his head.

"Damn Fallen, stay the hell out!" A man in a guard tower with an ancient, creaky Winchester rifle yelled, mistaking the Guardians for Fallen.

"Hey, asshole! We're humans, not Fallen, so knock it the fuck off!" Merikh yelled back, ignoring the fact that three of them were technically not human. Screaming at the borderline hillbilly who almost splattered your grey-matter all over the floor wasn't exactly the time to account for technicalities, after all. Evidently getting the memo, he meekly went back inside his guard tower. "Great, not thirty seconds into being here and something tries to kill us. Lets just hope the other occupants have better social skills. And probably better teeth."

Continuing to walk into the town, they quickly found an unpleasant sight in the form of a kneeling Titan next to a dying Hunter. Rushing over, there wasn't much they could do since none of them knew anything in the way of medical skills. The Titan was wearing a nearly complete set of Holdfast armor, the only missing element being the helmet, which was gone entirely to reveal he was an Exo. The armor being painted black and red to match his head, he was knelt down beside his ally, slumped against the wall.

"Any of you know how to treat a deep wound?" The Titan asked, not even having to look to know that more Guardians had arrived. Sure enough, the Hunter, who was wearing a torn hood and cloak with a small radio box on the left shoulder, was on her last legs as indicated by the deep stomach wound she was coping with. Not wanting to make a comment, Merikh was still admittedly jealous of the ATS/8 Arachnid helmet she possessed.

"Zulu, there's no point. My Ghost's smashed, I'm dead anyway." The woman chuckled, violently coughing a few seconds later. "It would honestly be better if you just put me out of my misery now." Closing his eyes, the Titan, evidently named Zulu, let out a deep sigh before nodding his head. Deciding to be the good samaritan, Merikh made an offer.

"Would it help if I did it? That way you don't have to watch." Merikh offered, drawing a Hand Cannon.

"Yeah, that would be better. I'll be waiting just over there." Zulu pointed to an area across the dirt street, getting up and walking away. Not wanting to form an emotional connection from looking into the Hunter's dying eyes, Merikh looked away as he threw the Hunter's hood back, pulled her helmet off, and pressed his Hand Cannon against her forehead, the one gunshot it let off sounding even louder than usual. Huffing a deep sigh, Merikh threw the Hunter's hood back up and pulled it tight to try and hide her eyes. If he knew her any better he'd probably take her hood in commemoration, but it would probably be better to wait and see what Zulu does. Going over to where Zulu was standing around, Caldwell decided to make the first move.

"I'm sorry about your loss, the Vanguard sent us out here to see what had happened. Where's your third Fireteam member?" Caldwell inquired, taking off his helmet and holding it under his arm to try and be a little bit more relatable.

"Over there, I'm the only one left now." Zulu pointed, directing them to the metal spike protruding from the ground with a dirt-smudged, chipped, somewhat damaged Warlock helmet hanging on the end. The mood getting dark, Caldwell tried to think of a way to relate to Zulu on the matter.

"Well, would it help if we requested for some backup? Got you a new Fireteam?" Caldwell suggested, running out of ideas. Taking a more distinct look around, there weren't many signs of Fallen damage, but Vex markings were everywhere. Singe marks from Line Rifle shots, dead Vex shells strung up like scarecrows from the sides of buildings and off of awnings, and a massive number of severed Vex heads placed around like door ornaments. The majority of the door ornaments were Minotaur heads, but plenty of Goblin heads were laying around as cap pieces for various architecture as well.

"Those two were my team from the day I was resurrected, getting replacements just wouldn't be the same. I've held down this fort for 8 months, I'll continue to do so in their name until I die too. I promise I'll be more sociable in a few days, it's just now…my Warlock friend died not even a week ago, it's only recently that the Vex have started pushing so hard. The Fallen tried, failed, and gave up. Probably didn't think it was worth the losses in manpower, but the Vex just keep throwing themselves at us like moths to a flame. There's something about this part of Poland that they want, and they won't stop until they have it. Of course, they'll need to take me down before that happens." Zulu explained, grabbing his LMG. It was dark blue and steel in color, with some aftermarket wiring attached to the left side that caused the entire thing to crackle with electricity. Along the side of the barrel was the word Thunderlord, which seemed to be engraved in with a knife or other sharp object.

"What could the Vex possibly want with this exact spot? There's plenty of land you guys aren't defending for miles in every direction." Merikh pointed out, slightly confused.

"Take a look around, what do you see around the town that's different from in here?" Zulu questioned, hoping Merikh got the answer.

"Well, there's a bunch of massive rocks, hills, and all sorts of other screwy terrain from our ancestors going a little crazy with the terraforming, but the land we're standing on only has a few small rocks and medium-ish rocks to account for. Why?" Merikh wondered, not quite getting it.

"The Vex like a lot of hard angles. Squares, rectangles, pointed edges and flat surfaces. The land we're currently sitting on would be easier for them to make a base from, and then once they do, they'll have a better flow of resources to carve into the hills and rocks around us. They're targeting the town because anything they put up outside would get torn down too easily by us due to having to trek at least 40 miles from the nearest gate system to here. They still have to sleep on account of their mind cores being biological, and Minotaurs can only carry so much so fast. Taking this town is the solve-all end-all for their problems, and that's why we haven't just moved out. Because the longer we're here, the longer we keep them from spreading like a cancer across all of Poland." Zulu clarified, making sure his Thunderlord was loaded and ready. Hearing an alarm go off, the entirety of Komodo snapped to attention and started looking around for hostiles, while Zulu just hefted up his LMG like it was the start of a Monday. "It's probably another construction squad, follow me."

Complying, the entire Fireteam followed Zulu to the edge of the town, the lack of a defensive wall meaning they had to take cover behind a small barricade. In total, their defenses amounted to a few guard towers, some LMGs mounted into turret frames with blast shields, and some roadblocks with additional metal plates welded onto them. If it weren't for Zulu and his two deceased Fireteam allies, this town would've gone under long ago. Merikh sighting in with his sniper, what he saw was extremely confusing in the form of two unknown units. One resembled a Minotaur from the Aphix Invasive despite the rest of the Vex being Hezen Corrective, only it had a small forearm shield on the left forearm, as well as a slightly different back. Its lower back had a small, box-like attachment affixed to it, which was connected to a trio of black and white cables running into its right armpit. From there, the cables could be seen running through the middle of its arm, all the way down into each of its fingers. Aside from all that, the only other big difference was that it had thick, blocky, almost hoof-like feet, which looked like they could cave in a metal door without the slightest bit of trouble.

"The hell is that thing?" Merikh asked, figuring Zulu would know.

"It's called a Manticore, they're part defensive support unit, part construction crew. See that gun it's holding?" Zulu explained, directing Merikh's eyes to the quad-barreled, long, stockless weapon it held. Unlike weapons such as the Slap Rifle that had a whole frame practically interlinked into the forearm, this gun simply had a pistol grip-shaped handle, as well as a grip-like cover about halfway up the gun. "See that gun? My Warlock buddy almost loved the Vex in a way. Studied them, cut open the bodies of dead Vex, analyzed their weapons, all sorts of things. Thanks to him, I can tell you that gun is technically supposed to be the Vex equivalent of a nailgun. It fires highly concentrated, high-energy bursts of Vex netcode. Much like how you nail in something to keep it in place, he theorized that they use those things to cap off constructed Vex systems, turns out they realized it's pretty good at killing people as a shotgun to boot."

"Well, what do you have to say about the other thing?" Alvara wondered, pointing the very oddly-shaped Vex not far behind it. It was comprised of a body like the top piece of a Hydra, only more elongated and more rectangular than round. It had four long, heavily armored legs that dug into the ground with every step like a shovel. Mounted along the middle of its back was a pair sized-up Line Rifle barrels, and near the back of its central body was a trio of diagonally upward-pointing guns that dripped and spat quickly dissipating purple energy, indicating that they were probably some kind of Torch Hammer Mortar Cannons. What was strangest though, was probably the three optics placed in a triangle shape instead of just one like on a Hydra.

"_That _thing's called a Cerberus, it's like a walking armor platform. Worst part is that's not even the assault kind, that particular one's for land clearing. Look at its underside." Zulu pointed out, drawing their attention to the series of small arms and manipulators poking out from underneath the Cerberus' body, which collected small rocks and other debris, only for them to disappear inside it. "The Vex like for their structures to have as flat of a starting ground as possible. Cerberus units like that one are meant for cleaning the land of small debris bits first, and killing us second."

"That armor doesn't look thin, how do you guys usually kill them?" Merikh asked, not too fond of how this was looking.

"Before she passed, my Hunter friend developed these bombs that are like a Tripmine Grenade, but they're a thin disk shape instead of a stick, so you can slide them. The underside of those things aren't armored whatsoever, so if you can slide one of those under it, it's as good as dead." Zulu explained, the gunfire finally starting as the Vex got close enough to notice their presence. A Manticore being the first to fire on them, the sound of its weapon resembled that of a sharp, punctual crack noise, akin to the sound of a sharp spike being ejected at high speed. In addition to that, the gun fired four bright red, almost glowing rods, one from each barrel. At the same time, the rods dissipating on impact in a small concussive blast showed they were no laughing matter. In total, the force consisted of four Manticores, 2 Cerberus, 6 Hobgoblins, 4 Minotaurs, and 20 Goblins. Caldwell, Carwyn, and Merikh running across the road to take cover somewhere else, Alvara decided to open up with a bang. Pulling out her rocket launcher, something rather unpleasant happened when she tried to fire it at a Manticore.

"Ah, what the _hell?!_" Alvara yelled in part discouragement, part confusion as the Manticore quickly passed its gun to grip in its left hand before punching the ground with its right hand. Locking in a kneeling position with its fist against the floor, the Manticore was saved from destruction as a barrier similar to that of a Hydra appeared, the only difference being it stayed in place instead of slowly rotating around the Manticore. Staying like that for a solid 6 seconds, the Manticore then rose back up and gripped its gun as normal, prioritizing Alvara now. Picking up into a sprint, the Manticore was startlingly fast as it closed the roughly 30-40 foot gap between them, vanishing at the last second…..

_Only to reappear shoulder-first as it rammed Alvara through a building's flimsy wall_

"Great….scary Vex unit can shoulder-charge." Alvara groaned, all her field experience and discipline unable to keep her from needing a moment to just lie there in the debris of the smashed wall. Back outside with Barrett, Zulu, and the Manticore, the two Titans quickly backed up as the Manticore whipped to face them, its hasty aim causing its gunfire to hit the ground just short of them instead of landing on-target. Wanting a fist-fight, the Manticore let its shields absorb the brunt of Zulu and Barrett's counter-assault as it fired one last blast, taking out a good 3/4's of Barrett's shields. Raising its left arm above its head, the Manticore tried to swing a downward backhand, only to miss as its target backed up. Immediately changing direction to run at the Manticore now, Barrett rammed the pointed end of his Necrochasm into the Manticore's chin, the burst of gunfire he let off turning its optic into techno-mulch. Still not dead, the Manticore swung a left uppercut into Barrett's stomach, sending him careening back and taking the Manticore's head with it. Left arm jammed at a weird angle with its fingers splayed out, the Manticore let out a spine-chilling, half-pained roar as it ran as fast as it could at them.

"This is why I don't fight Vex very often!" Barrett yelled as he and Zulu turned and ran, the Manticore one-handing its gun as it fired haphazardly at them. Relying on its far less acute sensors placed around its body and the two spare optics in its shoulders, the Manticore tried to hunt down its prey, following them around a corner. Not knowing what to expect, the Manticore was caught off-guard as Zulu quickly stepped around the corner, swinging the back end of his Thunderlord right into its abdomen. Knocking the Manticore right off its feet, the machine continued to fire wildly as it kicked and roared in frustration, its pain only ending when Zulu opened fire on its exposed neck-circuits. Seeing the Cerberus units getting closer, Zulu decided it would be a good time to get those Tripmine Bombs. Meanwhile with Merikh, Caldwell, and Carwyn, things could be going better.

_Judging by the fact that half their cover got taken out by a Cerberus' Line Rifles, things could be going __**much **__better_

"Any reason why we've never heard of these things? Because you'd think a Vex that's carrying two mini-railguns on its back would be something to note." Merikh complained, popping up to blow a Hobgoblin in two.

"Maybe they're new, Zulu and his team haven't exactly had a steady line of communication back to the City, probably just something along the lines of 'Yeah, we're not dead yet.'" Caldwell retorted, getting oddly satirical compared to usual. Spotting two of the Minotaurs, Caldwell hurled his Nova Bomb, hoping to take out the Cerberus they were escorting. Unfortunately, all he did was knock it off-balance and get its attention despite vaporizing the Minotaurs. Turning to face them, the Cerberus unit's three Torch Hammer Mortars rose slightly, locking in place with a click before firing one after another in a repeat pattern, shelling their position. Having to move to avoid being obliterated, the three Guardians sought cover further inside the town as they were forced to give the Vex the front line. With only 2 Hobgoblins, 8 Goblins, 2 Minotaurs, and 3 Manticores left, the biggest problem was still the Cerberus units. One of them slowly stomping into the town, its life was quickly ended as a black disk could be seen sliding under it. The arms snatching it up like any other debris, the Cerberus was helpless as that telltale beep of a set-off Tripmine could be heard, followed by a blast protruding through the top of its back. Bursting like a spear, the plume of fire shot a hole right through the top of the Cerberus, followed by another one blowing its optics right off the front of its body.

Letting off a screeching roar that made a Minotaur's war cry sound like a kitten, the Cerberus continued to have explosive holes burst open across its body, followed by an escalating noise that culminated in its entire body becoming enveloped in a bright glow. Going out with one last blast, the resounding wave of heat from the explosion felt like it had the intensity of the sun, blasting through the town and forcing all non-Vex to take cover. Peering up once the heat-wave had passed, all that was left was the tips of its feet and its fried optics. Despite the war still raging on, everything felt silent for the three Guardians who witnessed it.

"Now that…..that was one hell of a death." Merikh commented, his voice showing that he'd be slack-jawed if you could see his face. Being reminded of the fight around him by more Torch Hammer fire slamming down, Caldwell decided regrouping would be a good idea.

"Let's get over there, we'll have a better chance of formulating a battle plan if we can get everyone's heads in on it." Caldwell suggested, Merikh deciding to go first. One of the Minotaurs moving to intercept him, Merikh's immature side stuck out as he pulled a Tripmine Grenade, sticking it right to the Minotaur's pelvic region before ducking and passing between the confused machine's legs. Letting out a confused whirring noise as it processed what just happened, things took a rather unpleasant turn as the grenade went off, completely blowing apart the Minotaur's pelvic region and the top half of its thighs. As if that wasn't insulting enough, the Minotaur's top half was sent careening a good 15 feet into the air, coming down head-first on a railing with a sickening clang. Having met the railing optic-first, the Minotaur's head was slightly knocked loose, the machine unable to do much more than sputter and claw at the ground in confusion. Not wanting to worry about it too much, Caldwell merely tossed an Axion Bolt to deal with the confused Minotaur as he too crossed the road. With Carwyn also crossing over, everyone was accounted for but Alvara.

"Where's Alvara?" Merikh wondered, finding her absence strange.

"A Manticore plowed her." Barrett answered, not thinking his short answer would be taken the wrong way. Judging by the silent stares from everyone but Zulu, it was evident he was wrong. "_Through a building._ Apparently those things can shoulder-charge when they teleport, one ran into her and sent her right through a wall. _Sick bastards_."

"Hey, I'm not the one who left their statement up for interpretation! If you're going to say something like that, try _not _to put that imagery in my-" Merikh started to argue, being silenced by a smack to the back of the head from Caldwell.

"I promise, we're usually not this dysfunctional." Caldwell assured, looking at Zulu.

"Well, speaking of Manticores, there's still 2 of them left, I saw one get incinerated in that Cerberus blast." Zulu pointed out, the telltale roaring indicating that one was right behind him. Turning to face it, the Manticore froze up as a flash of blue light could be seen behind it. Hearing the sharp sound of a knife quickly being withdrawn, the Manticore fell over to reveal Alvara standing there, the hole in the Manticore's back-mounted box explaining it all.

"I took out the last of the Hobgoblins and the Goblins, all we've got left is a Minotaur and that Cerberus." Alvara explained, strangely leaving the last Manticore out of that list. Figuring that maybe she took it out and didn't say, they focused their efforts on the Cerberus.

"Wait a minute….." Zulu stopped, the expression on his mechanical face saying something along the lines of _Oh crap, completely forgot about that…_

"What? What's the problem?" Carwyn prodded, mostly being so forceful because of the stakes of the current situation.

"We only made one Tripmine Bomb before you guys arrived, and I used it to destroy the other Cerberus." Zulu explained with a look of dread on his face, especially since none of them were going to dive under it and risk getting chopped up, incinerated, _whatever it was _that happened to the debris a Cerberus sucked up. Stopping to think, the whole group tried to ponder their own ideas when Alvara spoke up.

"Do you have any carbon nano-steel cable? The really strong stuff?" Alvara inquired, getting an idea.

"Yeah, plenty of it, why?" Zulu answered, wondering where this was going.

"Get it and make one end into a lasso loop, we're going to string this thing up like you guys did to those Vex corpses." Alvara explained, Zulu leading the way to a small shack. Opening the door, it didn't take long for Zulu to toss out a long line of a shiny, dark grey cable that was about as thin as someone's pinky finger. Conveniently enough, one end was already in a loop shape. "Alright, how easily could you, Barrett, Carwyn, and Caldwell get on a roof with this thing?"

"Pretty easily, there's a tall building the Cerberus hasn't passed yet that has a ladder in the back leading right up to the roof." Zulu informed, still not getting the idea.

"Take this and go up there. Throw it over the edge and wait for my signal. When I say now, start pulling as hard as you can." Alvara laid out with an unseen smile, getting a strong feeling this would work. Everyone running to their positions, Alvara waited in a low crouch as the Cerberus slowly stomped through town. Scanning for hostiles, it didn't see as the wire was thrown off the side of the building Zulu, Carwyn, Caldwell, and Barrett were on. Seeing the loop, Alvara dropped to a prone crawl, slowly inching out into the road and using her slow, gentle movements to avoid setting off any of the Cerberus' sensors. Grabbing the loop, she waited where she anticipated the Cerberus to step, placing the loop right in that spot. Taking the bait, the Cerberus unwittingly set its foot right inside the loop, Alvara yanking it up hard before yelling for the rooftop team to pull. Between having two Exos, and three of them being Titans, the Cerberus was helpless as the loop tightened significantly and its leg was yanked right up off the floor, hoisting the entire machine up the side of the building. Letting off a mechanical whooping noise in a sort of panic, the machine kicked its other legs as it tried to free itself, all to no avail.

"Alright Merikh, now!" Alvara yelled, running out from under the Cerberus to join her fellow Hunter at the other end of the road. With its underside exposed, the Cerberus helplessly dangled off the side of the building as the two Hunters laid into it with their heavy weapons. Having been given Zulu's Thunderlord for this, Merikh mercilessly fired the electrified rounds into its underside as Alvara steadied a rocket, the blast being the last thing the giant Vex ever felt. "Ok, drop the Cerberus and take cover!"

Alvara and Merikh diving inside a shop while the rooftop team hung off the backside of their building, all the Guardians braced themselves as the Cerberus blew apart, shattering much of the glass on the building it was hoisted from.

"Well, that was fun….." Merikh groaned, his back not quite too content with all the running, diving, and nearly-getting-incinerated-ing. Looking over, he realized he and Alvara had landed barely a foot apart, which quickly shut him into an awkward moment.

"Yeah, maybe next time we'll have more Tripmines." Alvara noted, blatantly getting up and dusting herself off. Whether she was intentionally ignoring the implications or was too oblivious to notice them, he wasn't sure. Deciding to do the same, both Hunters went outside to meet up with their fellow Guardians.

"I'd call that a job well done…..now, where's that last Manticore?" Barrett asked, finding its absence strange.

"And the Minotaur, wasn't there still one left?" Carwyn pointed out, only making things stranger. Hearing some commotion at the edge of town, all the Guardians turned to find both the Manticore and Minotaur had been diverted away, and were currently in multiple pieces as a large pack of Dregs in blue armor were savagely stabbing and clawing them apart.

"Leave 'em, the Fallen don't bother us anymore. They still pass by from time to time, but for some reason they've just given up on acknowledging our presence here." Zulu explained, his easy posture indicating they had nothing to worry about. Passing his LMG back, Merikh fell into the back of the group as Caldwell prepared to bid farewell.

"Well, we'll be heading back to the City now. If you ever need help or change your mind about having backup, just let us know." Caldwell said goodbye, Zulu showing his gratitude by locking his right hand together with Caldwell's as if they were going to have an arm-wrestling contest. Both Exos throwing their left arms over each other's backs, they each gave their fellow Exo a small pat on the back before turning and walking away, Caldwell calling for his Jumpship as his fellow Guardians did the same.

_Later that day, in the Tower, 7:55 PM…_

Things could be worse, but they could also be better. Since she couldn't be fully trusted to not be a maniacal traitor plotting the downfall of the city, Eris couldn't get her own room, be it in the Tower or otherwise, and her old one from before the incident with Crota had been sold to some Exo Interpretive Dancer.

_Exos can even dance? What's next? It's going to be rented out to Reef-dwellers passing through on vacation? _Eris satirically complained in her head, currently seated with her back against a railing by the Tower's edge with her legs out in front of her. With nothing to do, no money, and no friends on account of Komodo being out on a mission in Poland, she could only idly sit and listen to the bustle of the Tower. That is, until someone unexpected came by.

"Ikora Rey? What're you doing away from your post? Shouldn't you be watching over your Warlocks?" Eris questioned, admittedly somewhat bitter since the Vanguard blew her off so blatantly. Not too much against Ikora since most of it was done by Zavala, but still, she was agitated.

"Even we have time to ourselves, Hunter. What I'd like to know is why you're sitting out here against a railing with nothing to do." Ikora explained, strangely taking a seat next to the drained Hunter.

"I have no money, no home, and I'm technically not a Guardian anymore, so those privileges are gone too. None of the public bunking areas down in the City or any of the restaurants exactly have a 'has-been Guardian who nearly died at the hands of a Hive god' discount, so this is the best seat I can get. Combine that with rumors that I'm secretly a Hive informant plotting the downfall of the City, and not too many people will even look at me." Eris explained, still suspicious of why Ikora was here. The Warlock Vanguard didn't seem to have a gun on her, so the possibility of a compassionate execution was quite small.

"Unlike Zavala, I can tell you're telling the truth. We Warlocks, we have…a sense for people. We can tell if they're lying, if their intentions are good or bad, and loosely guess what their plans are. You could almost say I've gotten a sixth sense for predicting Cayde's pranks." Ikora chuckled, unusually sociable compared to how she was on-the-job.

"Where are you going with this? That you feel sorry for me? Want to apologize on Zavala's behalf?" Eris guessed, still somewhat stung. Thankfully, her opinion of Ikora was at least improving.

"Have you ever heard of The Hidden? It's a group of Guardians under my command that go out and gather information for me to make better-informed decisions with. What they can and can't do is completely within my jurisdiction, they're separate from the laws of the Vanguard itself. I was wondering if you'd like to join." Ikora offered, eliciting the first smile anybody's seen on Eris' face since she arrived.

"That…..I can do. Anything you wish to know about the Hive, I'll find it. After having learned to use the shadows as they do, you'll find no better asset to use against them." Eris accepted, her day getting a bit brighter.

"Good, now come. You look like you haven't eaten in a while, and neither have I. Call it my treat until you start earning your own money under your new occupation." Ikora invited, doing quite well at making herself Eris' friend. Accepting the Warlock's offer, both women got up and left for the next shuttle out of the Tower, marking the beginning of what would become an immensely successful partnership.

Post-Chapter Note

And with that, the Vex have made their debut. I was actually struggling to try and find a good place to put Zulu's settlement, but I eventually took a location that's planned for one of my other stories, so I hope it worked out well. In addition to that, any feedback on the new Vex units would be highly appreciated. I kid you not, my thought process when I asked myself what would be a scary bipedal Vex was simply "A Minotaur with a Hek Shotgun from Warframe and a Hydra's shield" and I just filled in the blanks to make it what it is now (Such as explaining the gun's purpose). In addition to that, I tried to follow the naming trend shared with some of the other Vex units by pulling names from ancient mythological creatures, hence names like Manticore instead of something more generic.

In addition to that, something I forgot to bring up about the last chapter was that the idea to feature the Deathsinger and her scene in general was inspired by the song Our Truth by Lacuna Coil, especially the intro. If you listen to it, it should be quite easy to know what I'm talking about. Also, since I'm putting my biggest story on break until the Summer, taking it out of the loop temporarily means there'll probably be a decent amount of updates for this story in a shorter amount of time, which means you'll probably get to see Komodo's #6 join sooner than expected. Any ideas on who it might be? (I've already got it dead-set as to who it'll be, I just want to see if I was predictable about it)

Finally, the reason I specifically cited Exos as being a notable factor in trying to hoist up the Cerberus is that, in this story, Exos are going to be like the Terminator's little cousin so to speak: Resilient bodies and strength far surpassing that of a human. Maybe not quite to the ridiculous extreme that the T-800 has been seen surviving things, but still far more resilient than a human or Awoken.


End file.
